Turning Tides
by Fissiletoasty
Summary: Gwen is a teenage girl who is abruptly moved from her home town in Canada to the completely opposite environment of Wawanakwa Springs, Florida. Having to leave all her friends and everything she's ever known behind Gwen is not looking forward to restarting her whole life. Will she learn to adjust to her new home? What friends will she meet, and what enemies will she make?
1. Moving Day

**A/N: **Ok so this is my first fan fiction ever, but I'm gonna give it my best shot. This is all gonna be straight up Gwuncan so there's your heads up.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing related to the total drama series

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><p>Gwen woke up and looked at the time and day on her alarm clock. It was 4:30 December 27. She uttered a loud grown and shuffled her way out of bed. Today was likely going to be the 2nd worst day of her life. Over the summer Gwen's mom had decided she didn't like living in the frozen north anymore ,and wanted a year round summer instead of the bleak dreary weather of Ottawa.<p>

Yes Gwen's mother had decided moving to Florida would be best for herself, Gwen, and Toby her little brother. Gwen didn't agree with her mother on this idea as much though…

**A month earlier**

"Mom! It's the middle of sophomore year how can you just tell me were moving without even stating that you were selling the house to me once!" Gwen said with tears in her eyes.

"Gwen I know it doesn't make a lot of sense now, but when you're older you'll understand it was for the best." Her mother said reassuringly.

"This is so unfair how can you just do this so calmly! You didn't even ask me for my opinion!"Gwen cried.

Gwen then ran up to her room and sobbed into her pillow realizing she only had a month left in her home town. It seemed the more Gwen stayed in her room the harder she would cry. She thought if her best friends ,Leshawna and Beth, and how'd she'd probably never see them again with the price of plane tickets what they were.

Then she thought of all the memories she'd be leaving behind. Beth's tree fort, the abandoned restaurant her and her boyfriend Trent would hang out at.

"Oh god... what about Trent" Gwen thought to herself. At that moment Gwen became sadder than she previously thought humanly possible. She couldn't cry anymore ,so if someone had walked in all that would be seen was a whimpering 16 year old in fettle position looking like she had just had an exorcism performed on her.

That night when Gwen was finally done sobbing she decided that her life in one month would truly be over.

…

The next day Gwen informed all her friends of the news with the furthest thing from a smile on her face. "You can't move! Who the hell does your mom think she is!" Yelled Leshawna.

Beth replied "Seriously I'm gonna give that woman a piece of my mind. I mean who leaves Ottawa for Florida!"

Gwen immediately thought any person with an AARP card but was to tired and sad to be sarcastic. Trent came along just then and spotted the three girls with sadness on there faces.

"Who died" Trent said trying to lighten the obviously depressed mood. "We'll let Gwen explain that one to you." Leshawna said as she grabbed Beth and walked away so as not to make the situation any more uncomfortable.

"What was that supposed to mean?! Are you breaking up with me, oh no I knew this was comi-" Trent was babbling until Gwen cut him off.

"Trent I'm not breaking up with you, well sort of I guess, I don't even know" Gwen said on the verge of tears.

"Gwen whats the matter, why are you crying?"

"Because Trent I'm moving to Florida!" Gwen said now crying.

"My mom told me yesterday, and now my whole life is over!"

Trent immediately hugged Gwen as she trembled in his arms. She felt comforted in them, but then felt even worse knowing she would lose this feeling too. Trent then wiped a tear off Gwen's cheek and stopped her trembling by kissing her.

"Gwen listen it'll be ok. I'll skype you everyday once you move. And with the band getting more recognition everyday I'll have a ticket for you in no time." Trent spoke in a soothing voice. Seeing she was still very upset though he thought of another idea.

"In the mean time though Gwen we need to make this the best month in Ottawa anyone has ever had!" Gwen saw the true spark of initiative he had and was curious. She sniffled out "What do you have in mind?"

"Oh all sorts, we'll finally crack that safe open at the restaurant, we'll make a trash can fire like you've always wanted, right bitch in permanent marker on Mrs. Wilcox board!" This made Gwen chuckle a little.

"Thank you Trent, you always know how to cheer me up." she said as she kissed him on the cheek.

As for the rest of that month the four friends did have the most fun anyone had ever had in Ottawa. But eventually all that fun would have to end.

**Present time**

As she was brushing her teeth and gearing up for her god awful car ride, Gwen finally came to terms with her fate. She wasn't leaving everything behind after all. Thanks to the internet she could keep in touch with her friends everyday if she wanted to, which was the plan at the time.

As she dragged her massive amount of luggage out of her house, she looked back and started to feel the tears flow. She stuffed her bags in the back, then fell straight back asleep, thinking how her whole life was about to change.

…

Gwen woke up again about 9:00. She was woken up by the border patrolman inspecting their car. After he gave Gwen's mom the A-Ok, they were in America. Vermont to be exact. Gwen had been to America a few times in her life time. When she was three and her dad was still alive, she remembered them all going to Disney World and everyone being really smiley and friendly. She also remembered going right up to Mickey Mouse and punching him straight in the gut. That trip would have been the last trip she'd ever take with her dad. After going to Disney World, Gwen's dad fell very ill and it was revealed he had a very serious case of liver cancer. Just another reason on top of Gwen's giant list to hate Florida.

As the hours went by Gwen stared out the car window replaying moments of the past in her head. After a while she got tremendously sad again and decided it'd be best to take a stretch break. She looked at the time only to be shocked that it was already 18:30! She asked her mom where they were and found out they were in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. Still needing to get out of the crowded car Gwen asked her mother if they could pull over at the next visitor center/ road stop. When they finally pulled over Gwen couldn't believe the sight before her eyes. Still in the upper Smokeys they had pulled over to some kind of camp sight and it looked like Gwen could see the whole state. With gentle clouds surrounding the tree line it truly was a sight to see.

After there Smokey Mountain adventure the pierces finally arrived in Atlanta about 22:00. Gwen's mom couldn't drive anymore so they just decided to stay in a hotel for the night. Atlanta was one of the other places Gwen had visited in America before. She actually was quite fond of the city and wished that if she had to be moving anywhere that it would be there. Gwen could only see the city from her hotel room this time around however. Gwen's mom wanted to get in and out of this city as fast as possible, because she knew if you stuck around in Atlanta to long then it doesn't matter where you're going, you're getting five hours of extra traffic time even if you're just going an hour south.

Gwen jolted awake at 5:00 to the deafening sound of the alarm. Her mother had already packed all the suit cases and was rushing them out the door in a swift 15 min.

With there hasty "escape" from Atlanta, as Gwen's mother put it, they were on the home stretch to Wawanakwa Springs, Fl. As the family entered Florida, Gwen was expecting almost a Hollywood look to the whole state. A mix of what she remembered from Disney, and what she had seen from pictures of Miami. All Gwen got however was mainly just grass and citrus groves. It turned out Wawanakwa Springs was in the middle of the state, so they couldn't even get a sea breeze to make the heat even slightly tolerable. It took about another three hours to finally get to the small town, but when they finally got there Gwen was not very impressed. It was a developing town that was for sure, but there was absolutely nothing there! As they were driving around exploring, the only corporation sort of building to be found was some grocery store named Publix. After about a half hour of driving around the quaint place though, Gwen's mother finally drove to their neighborhood. It was a large community called Pleasant Acres, made up of sub divisions. Gwen's mother pulled into the one named Palmetto Forest.

It was you're average white suburb, all houses look the same, side walks clean. About 12 houses down from the entry gate was the house Gwen's mom pulled into. It looked nice, good looking yard, a palm tree of course. Before they even mildly unpacked the car everyone had to see the house. Toby ran inside as Gwen was inspecting all corners. She had to admit it was a lot bigger than she expected. It even had a loft upstairs, which she decided would be her room. Once everyone was done exploring the house they all went outside to start unloading the car. As Gwen was grabbing an ungodly amount of boxes out of the trunk she heard a very high pitched hello from the yard next to hers. She put down the boxes only to see a red haired girl who looked about her age waving like a mad-man and walking over to her. Gwen muttered to herself, well this is just gonna be a blast, with heavy sarcasm.

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><p><strong>Hope you like it, sorry if I went into a little to much detail for the move down stuff, that's probably the most detailed I'll get for stuff like that though. Anyway give me your thoughts, suggestions, opinion, I don't care just something!<strong>


	2. So this is Florida?

**Alright so wow I won't lie everytime I got a review or follow I probably didn't stop smiling for five minutes. I mean seriously that was just the best there. A small note before hand though, I'll try and update weekly, or with in the week for that matter, but if I don't I'm either caught up with school or its an extra long chapter. Now that that's out of the way hope ya'll enjoy chapter 2.**

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><p>"Hi my names Zoey!" The strange girl said as she walked up to Gwen. Gwen looked her up and down and then said a bit monotone "Gwen." as she extended her arm for a hand shake.<p>

"So where are you guys coming from, Ohio, Michigan, New York, somewhere from the North I'm sure." Zoey asked with nothing but excitement in her voice. "Ya we're moving from Canada." Gwen answered. "Ohhhh Canada, we don't have a lot of you down here, I'm from Louisiana myself, moved here when I was about three." Zoey said, still ecstatic for some reason. Gwen got tired of this excitement and decided to call her on it.

"Why are you being so lively? People have to move in and out of here constantly it's not like were special or something?"

Zoey detecting a bit of scold in Gwen's voice lost her smile. "Well it's just, it's usually old people who move here, and I've never really had anyone to hang out with, so seeing another girl move here finally... I don't know I guess I just got excited."

Gwen felt pretty crummy after hearing that. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to be so harsh. I've just been in this car a really long time today, and this whole things just been really stressful ya know?" Gwen said remorsefully.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry I'm sure you're stressed out to the max right now! Well if you need any help with anything I'm more than happy to lend a hand!" Zoey said putting her smile right back on.

"Actually after we get moved in I'd love for you to show me around." Zoey looked like she'd won the lottery after hearing this.

"Great! I'll show ya where the bus comes, where all the cool trails are, Poncho the Alligator!" Gwen thought Zoey was just speaking gibberish at this point.

"Poncho the Alligator?"Gwen asked. "Oh ya, we have alligators all over the place here but Poncho is a special one. He gets a pond all to his own because he's so big!"

"Oh is that so?" Gwen sarcastically replied.

"You'll see, no one ever believes at first, but trust me he's there. I'll go ahead and let you unpack I gotta go home and feed my hamster anyway.

It was really nice to meet you though Gwen, and when ever you want me to show you around don't be afraid to knock on my door!" Zoey said as she pointed to her door.

"Ya it was nice meeting you too." Gwen replied not near as enthusiastic as Zoey. Gwen thought Zoey seemed nice, definitely desperate for friends, but nice.

Later that day Gwen started opening some of her boxes in the upstairs. Mainly just books and clothes, even though she didn't have anywhere to put them since the movers weren't bringing the heavy stuff like book shelves until tomorrow. After Gwen unpacked a little she started mentally setting up her room. She decided her bed would go up against the window of the loft, and her dresser would be up against the wall, and other small things would just kind of come into place. Gwen for the life of her though couldn't find one place to put her dart board. Because it was a loft half the roof was slanted so there was very little space, she figured she'd find a place for it anyhow though.

After "setting" up her room Gwen just kind of stared at the ceiling for a little while thinking of her situation. She had just packed up her life and moved South 1600 miles in the span of two days. She figured it would have taken longer. In the midst of her thinking Gwen's mom called down for dinner.

"So I saw you talking with some young girl today Gwen." her mother said.

"Ya her name is Zoey, she's real nice, lives next door to us." Gwen replied. Her mother could tell Gwen was still holding hostility toward her, but she decided to just accept and avoid it.

"Is she your age? Oh and is she in your grade, I'm sure it'd be so much nicer to start school in two weeks with someone in your grade you've met." Gwen froze at this sentence. She had completely forgotten about school! She was going to be the new girl, and she knew it wouldn't be easy. With her short teal black hair, and incredibly white skin she'd stick out like a sore thumb at her school. Now Gwen started to panic a little bit and her mother could tell she was from her voice.

"Uhhh… ya I didn't ask her age or grade. C-can I be excused." Gwen said hastily.

"Honey whats the matter?" Gwen's mom asked very concerned.

"Nothing mom can I please just be excused!" Gwen now said with wrath and fear. Her mom nodded and Gwen ran upstairs. Once upstairs Gwen started to have a panic attack. Everything was hitting her at once, new school, new life, new home, new life, new grass, new life. She would think of every little change, and then have new life follow it. Gwen knew she was about to sob, and got even more upset when she realized she never unboxed her pillow. It was as if all at once everything had gone wrong.

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><p>The next morning Gwen woke up feeling much better than she had last night. She'd cried herself to sleep. As she was waking up though all the realizations from last night started to pour in her head again. Gwen quickly blocked them out and focused on simple tasks. Brush teeth, bathe, dry off, find clothes. Another problem had occurred though. Gwen had very little warm weather clothes. Actually all she pretty much had was a dark black skirt, and a black top with blue green sleeves. It'd have to do for now and when she looked in the mirror she realized it looked pretty good. Gwen then went down for breakfast, only to find large men down stairs carrying their furniture. The movers were here.<p>

"Gwen me and your brother are going to Target to get some stuff and get out of the movers way, do you want to come?" asked Gwen's mom.

"I'm fine mom I'll just explore the neighborhood a little bit." Gwen said.

"Ok sweetie be safe I have my phone." and with that Gwen's mother had left the house. Gwen decided now would be as good as ever to take Zoey up on that offer. She walked over to her house and knocked on her door. From the inside of the house Gwen heard "I'll get it!" being yelled repeatedly. Zoey answered the door. "Oh hey Gwen!"

"Hi Zoey, the movers came this morning and pretty much kicked us out of our house so I was wondering if you could show me around now?" As Gwen had expected after saying this Zoey's face lit up.

"Of course I can Gwen! Just give me a minute to get my shoes on." Zoey slammed the door then raced back out.

The two girls walked around the quaint neighborhood Zoey pointing out who was friendly, who was cranky, who were snowbirds, and who she'd really never met. Gwen found out Zoey was 16 and a sophomore as well and asked her about school.

"Well I don't know how Canadian schools are but were a pretty generic American school. Except for the number of students, not a lot of people get zoned for WSHS since Wawanakwa Springs is still developing big time. We've probably got about 100 kids total which is good because that means we'll probably have a lot of classes together." Gwen was relieved to here it was such a small school.

"Ya it'd really be great to have classes with you, since you're the only person I know and all." Gwen nervously chuckled.

"I can't wait to introduce you to my friends! You should be able to meet them all at task." Gwen gave Zoey a puzzled look. "Oh right, we have this thing here called Task, which is basically an hour of free time to do what ever you want. You can hang out in the court yard, go to lunch, go to the track, anything really unless a teacher needs you."

"Oh ok. Are you're friends nice?" Gwen asked.

"Oh ya we all get along real great, well accept for Heather but I'm the only one who's really friends with her." Zoey said.

"Well whats wrong with Heather?" Gwen curiously asked.

"Oh nothing Heather's perfect! She's really popular around the school, she can just be a little mean is all. Here I wanna go show you some trails around Pleasant Acres." With that the two girls were out of the neighborhood. Gwen saw a lot of alligators on the trails, but she did not see Poncho making her even more skeptical. Zoey assured her again that he was real.

Once they got back to Palmetto Forest 5 hours had already passed.

"Hey Zoey thanks for helping me figure out this whole place a lot better. Maybe tomorrow you wanna head up to that mall by the Publix or something?" Gwen knew Zoey's answer before she asked the question.

"Omg I would love to! We can get you some Florida type clothes, and ice cream, and… well actually i guess that's all that's at the mall right now. But still totally yes!" Zoey was practically jumping with excitement.

"Ok cool, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Oh wait let me get your phone number so I can just call you." Gwen said. Zoey gave it to her then the two spilt separate ways and into their houses.

Gwen was happy to know she had already made one friend in Florida.

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><p><strong>Again hope you guys enjoyed and please please please, let me know how I'm doing. Also don't worry Duncan will probably be in next chapter so hurrah!<strong>


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